To maintain full capacity and ensure effective operation, earthen livestock ponds periodically must be cleaned. Livestock ponds are typically filled by natural springs and/or by melted snow or rainwater flowing over land and/or through creeks. Such water carries silt, dirt, and other materials which collect on the bottoms of the ponds.
A need presently exists for an efficient, reliable, and cost effective apparatus and method for cleaning earthen livestock ponds. Heretofore, livestock ponds have typically been cleaned using maintainers or using tractors equipped with front end shovels. Unfortunately, such devices tend to slide or bog down in the in wet, silty, materials deposited in livestock ponds. These devices are therefore inefficient and/or very difficult to operate.
Cranes of the type used for digging at construction sites typically are not readily available for pond cleaning. Moreover, the cost of moving and operating such equipment is typically too high for pond cleaning operations.